Happy Divine Mercy Sunday, April 28, 2019~

Happy Divine Mercy Feast Day! Check your parish for celebrations and confessions starting at 3:00 PM today. Have a blessed and beautiful day!

The Church of Holy Child, Staten Island, will have a celebratory gathering with song, The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and prayers beginning at 3:00 PM in the forum. You will then move into the church at 3:30 for Confessions, readings from St. Faustina's Diary, testimonials, veneration of the Blessed Sacrament, adoration of the image of Jesus, the Divine Mercy and Mass at 5:30 PM.

Join us for this special Feast Day and God bless you.

"The Feast of Mercy emerged from my very depths of tenderness. It is my desire that it solemnly be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the fount of My Mercy." Jesus

 "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet." Diary 699  

Going to the Chapel......

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Last Sunday, when I was walking home from church, there was a family with young children walking beside me. The Mother asked the boy, who looked to be about 7, how he liked going to church. He said, “well, we went there once before.” The Mother responded, “yes, but today we went for real. “ It made me sad to hear the brief conversation. Of course, it may have been continued out of my earshot, but I don’t think that it was.  I really, truly, hope that the last time they were there wasn’t for his Christening and that now he is preparing for his First Communion, but sadly that is the case with many families.

The reality is that many families do just that and I personally think that they are not only short-changing their children but that they are also short-changing themselves. They christen their children and then don’t come back to church again until it is time for the child to receive First Communion, which is perplexing to me, but I won’t get into that. Faith building and religious instruction should be from birth, through life. Not just when you need it to make a sacrament.

Original work of art by Jean Keaton

When I went to grade school we were not only taught the Catechism but we also went to Confession and Mass on the first Fridays of the month. We started each school day with a prayer (and the Pledge of Allegiance) and a blessing. I was a good little girl, for the most part, and even taught religious instruction when I was in the 7^th and 8^th grades, to the 1st graders. Even though I knew all of the teachings of the church, I still struggled with them when I got older and had to re-educate myself on my faith, which I did when I was in my late 30’s. It wasn’t until then that my eyes were opened and I began to truly live my faith and understand the doctrines that I had learned from such an early age.  The thing is, though, that I had a very good basis and understanding of the faith and even I struggled. Is it possible to provide a good, solid, religious instruction to your child if they go to a public school and only attend religious instruction once a week? Of course it is.

I will admit, I did a terrible job of it, but I did at least get Tom to church every week and to religious instruction until he was about 12. His first 6 years of life were steeped in it too from us living with my parents and from our full-time baby sitters, Betty and Bob (God bless them both). He didn’t get confirmed but that blame lies squarely on my shoulders. I could make a whole bunch of excuses about it from my Mom dying, to our Pastor telling him that he didn’t have to come to church to pray for his Grandma, but the fact is I didn’t want to drag him there because we did have a battle royal every Sunday after that Pastor made that stupid remark. I caved because I freaking hated screaming and yelling and then sitting in church boiling over; that was just ridiculous. So on Sunday mornings, Tom would pop out of bed and go to our friend’s house up the street where, as he put it, everyone slept late and ate bagels for breakfast and I went to church to fulfill my obligation and nothing more. Even though I was lacking in my parenting skills when it came to religious instruction I do know quite a few families that now have adult children that continue in their parent’s footsteps, which is refreshing to see in this day and age.  Even Tom has made his peace with God and visits the chapel with me once in a while.

I guess what I am trying to say is two things. It’s never too late to find Jesus in the scriptures and to embrace Him. I’ve written about my own reversion to Him through the Rosary on here. Prayer will lead you to Him; reading the Bible will too. Ask for His help and guidance. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, ears and heart to the scriptures as He is the one that increases our faith and hope.

Glory be to the Father who created me.

Glory be to the Son who redeemed me.

Glory be to the Holy Spirit who sanctifies me.

Read the Catechism regardless if you are a Catholic or not. Either way it will strengthen you in faith, hope and charity and thus, prepare you to teach your children well. Share it with your children. The other point I'm trying to make is to make your faith a huge part of your family life from the womb to the tomb. Pray with your children. Read the Bible with your children. Attend Mass and services regularly with your children, as a family. Receive the Sacraments as a family. Do the same with your grandchildren, if you are able. Let go of the material things in this world, which are fleeting and immaterial in the long run, and embrace the spiritual.  Your child needs to know that not only are you always there for him/her, God is ALWAYS there for them too. As Jesus taught us in the parables of the mustard seed and the fruits of the vine, faith in God is something that needs to be planted, but it also needs to be nurtured to grow throughout life. Not only the child, but the adult needs to continue to change and grow with the ever changing tides of life and a strong faith will give them the tools to make it through all those periods of life. Never stop nurturing that faith, through continuous learning and prayer, and your faith will never fail you when it is needed most. That's why it is so important to nurture our children during the formative years. Otherwise, just like the untended grapes on a vine, that faith will wither up and cease to exist.

As a grown up I know that when I was younger that I rarely listened to others' opinions and suggestions, but I do hope that in some small way my own shortcomings may help someone else. One of my only regrets is that I did lose my connection with God in my younger years and didn't bother to provide a substantial faithful upbringing for my own child. My own experience has taught me that my relationship with God and my family has gotten me through many horrible things in my life and it has made me stronger. I do now see that my faith was always strong, even if I didn't think it at the time. It was because of the positive upbringing and strength of conviction of my formative years.   It is true that a family that prays together stays together. Remember that the next time you go to church “for real.”

Peace * Love

Mare

Christmas Fairs Staten Island

Hi all! We just wanted to let you know that we no longer do Fairs on the island, but the great news is that you can still purchase products from the Holy Land and Italy from us! Shop from the comfort of your own home and have them delivered. Best yet, we pay your sales tax!!

Visit our website at: http://www.gloryglorygifts.com

or our ebay store at: http://stores.ebay.com/gloryglorygifts

We have great items on both sites for Christmas or anytime! Here are some great ideas for stocking stuffers.

Both of the above are available at our ebay store! Bulk pricing is also available for many of our items so contact us if you are interested. Follow the link at the top of the page to see our store.

We also have inexpensive pendants from the Holy Land available at our website! In fact, our ENTIRE line of products from Bethlehem & Jerusalem are on the website. That's right. You can get imported, beautiful products from the Holy Land right here on the island! Just click the link above to the website.

We now have too many items to bring to fairs! Visit our sites today and let your Christmas shopping begin. Fast, low cost, shipping, affordable products and no sales tax, so what are you waiting for? Just use the links above and happy shopping.

Have a great week!

Mare

Faith & Healing

A few days ago  I read an interesting article about faith and healing. It was a nice article, in the Aletia on-line magazine, that showcased one man's perspective on how they go hand in hand. Can you have healing without faith? Of course you can. It happens every day in the hands of doctors, surgeons, therapists and other mental health professionals and even financial advisors. All of them can heal a person in one way or another. I guess you could say that you have faith in those people because you sought them out to help you, but I'm talking about a faith in God when it comes to healing. Even Atheists have faith in doctors and the others.

I know that my church, and one other local one, have monthly healing masses and services. During the mass the Holy Spirit is invoked and asked to provide healing for all of those present whether it be a spiritual, mental, or physical aspect. After the mass, at my church, a healing service is conducted where there is a laying on of hands and then prayers are said over a person. It probably took me a year to actually go and have that done to me. I remember the first time that I went to the mass I sat and watched the service afterward and some of the people that were being prayed over crumpled to the floor. That totally and completely freaked me out and, as one with a rather formidable figure, I had visions of myself crumbling to the floor while four skinny arms tried to stop me. The speaking in tongues thing gave me a "what the?" moment too. After that, I educated myself on what was happening and why. Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit. If you are truly speaking through this gift, either you will understand what is being said or someone else will. If it is all just garbled nonsensical ramblings, it is not the Holy Spirit speaking through them. The other thing I learned is that you can sit and have them pray over you. Once I found that out I decided to have a go at it.

I was prayed over by a group of 3 women, one of which was a Sister involved with the church's School of Religion. I sat down while they each put a hand on me and inquired what my prayer intention was. I told them that it was not actually for me but a family member that was struggling with addiction. During my education on the crumbling and tongues I found out that you can have them pray over you for the healing of another person. I did have some pretty serious things going on in my own body at the time, but I really needed to pray for my loved one. The women then put both of their hands on me and started to pray, with their eyes closed. The louder and more passionate they got, the more I felt a flush of heat pulsate through my body from my hair follicles to the tips of my toes. It only took a few minutes before some of them were speaking in tongues. After the flush I felt an incredible peace settle into my bones and then it was over. I just sat there with my eyes closed feeling the peace and warmth and utter silence in my head and it was just an awesome experience. I wish I could say that my loved one stopped using drugs and was immediately cured, but it took many more years of prayers before he decided to get clean and sober. On the other hand, I had a pretty miraculous, unexpected turn of events.

The following week I had to go for a follow up sonogram. A prior test had shown that four of my organs were filled with cysts. My pancreas had so many that they thought it was a tumor. The follow up sono could find no trace of any of them, neither in the pancreas nor in any other organ. My doc said whatever you are doing, keep doing it! I've been to a number of healing masses since then. I've had tumors disappear and many prayers answered. You can say that I am a firm believer in the power of prayers, the power of faith and its direct correlation with healing.

If you have the opportunity to go to a good healing service or mass do so. Stay away from things like Reiki though. They are not invoking the Holy Spirit and you are opening yourself up to some nasty things. It is okay to pray for yourself, but it is more important to pray for others.  God hears all prayers. God heals, if it is His will to do so. Sure, healing can occur without a faith in God, but isn't it nicer to have him by your side?

Have a great week.

Mare